Port-au-Prince , Haiti -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Massive food distribution coordinated by the World Food Programme , international aid agencies and the Haitian government will begin Sunday in the quake-ravaged capital .

WFP will roll out food at 16 distribution points across Port-au-Prince , the United Nations agency said .

Each location will receive 42 metric tons of rice each for the next two weeks , and each family will receive a 25-kilogram ration of rice .

Only women will be allowed into the distributions sites to collect the food , WFP said . Women are receiving the food vouchers because they tend to be responsible for the household food supply , said WFP spokesman Marcus Prior .

`` Our long experience in food distribution tells us that by delivering food into the hands of women , it is more likely to be redistributed equitably among the household -- including the men , '' Prior said .

The agency said it will work with its partners to ensure that men in need of assistance are not excluded .

The distribution sites will be set up with proper security , making it difficult for those not entitled to receive food to enter , he said . The WFP said the 16 fixed sites are a key step in establishing food security .

`` It is the most complex challenge we have ever confronted , but this distribution system will not only allow us to reach more people , it will give us the qualitative step we need to facilitate the delivery of all kinds of humanitarian assistance in the weeks and months to come , '' WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said in a statement from Rome , Italy .

The food aid plan involves at least eight private humanitarian agencies : Samaritan 's Purse , Catholic Relief Services , CARE , World Vision , ACTED , Save The Children , GOAL and ADRA .

`` Together with our NGO partners we are working with the local authorities , churches and other civil society organizations to ensure that all male-headed households and others with special needs are not excluded from these distributions , '' Prior said .

Details of the plan were finalized at a meeting attended by WFP , the aid agencies and senior members of the Haitian government , said Ken Isaacs , vice president of programs for Samaritan 's Purse .

He said those attending the meeting were given coupons , which are being handed out to needy families in the districts drawn up around each distribution point .

The distribution will begin early Sunday . The two-week effort aims to reach 2 million people in Port-au-Prince but does not expand to those living in other quake-devastated cities like Leogane .

Aid distributions to outlying areas will continue , Prior said .

`` Up until now the nature of this emergency has forced us to work in a ` quick and dirty ' way simply to get food out , '' Sheeran said . `` This new system will allow us to provide food assistance to more people , more quickly through a robust network of fixed distribution sites . ''

Multinational troops , including the U.S. military , will help secure food convoys and the distribution sites , Prior said .

CNN 's Alec Miran and Moni Basu contributed to this report .

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The World Food Programme will roll out food at 16 distribution points across city , agency says

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Each location will receive 42 metric tons of rice each for next two weeks

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Women will receive vouchers for a 25-kilogram ration of rice per family